The Memory Thief's Secret
by Chloris922
Summary: The next generation is starting Hogwarts! Follow them through their ups and downs, making friends, and discovering themselves. What starts out as a perfectly normal year turns scary as more and more people turn up with whole hours of memories missing. Who would want to steal such mundane, inconsequential memories?
1. Chapter 1: Expected

A/N: Well, here's my first story, hope you like it. Since I originally intended chapters 1 and 2 to be only one chapter I'm posting them both at the same time.

Disclaimer: All rights belong to J.K. Rowling, I own nothing. No money is being made off of this in any way, I'm just having fun.

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Chapter 1: Expected

Albus Potter woke up to sunlight streaming into his room. Excitement surged through him and he leaped out of bed and hastily started dressing. Now, Albus was not normally a morning person, it usually took three separate attempts by his mother to get him out of bed in the morning. However, Albus could not get the thought that today might be the day out of his mind. Just as he had been doing every morning for the past week and a half, Albus ran down stairs and headed straight for the pile of mail on the counter.

'_Today_, he thought, _it _has _to be here today!'_

"Albus, it's only July 17th." His mother called from the kitchen. "It could be another couple of days before you get your letter."

Albus ignored her as he set aside the _Daily Prophet _and started flipping through the mail. He had been waiting his whole life for his acceptance letter to Hogwarts and didn't want to hear that it might take longer to get to him. Suddenly he spotted it, sticking out from underneath a fancy envelope addressed to his father (probably yet another request for an interview) and he let out a shout of joy as he ripped it open.

Dear Mister Albus Potter,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all

necessary books and equipment.

Term begins September 1st. We await your owl by no later than July 31st.

Sincerely,

Neville Longbottom, Deputy Headmaster

"I GOT ACCEPTED!" Albus shouted as he jumped around excitedly waving his letter in the air.

Ginny rolled her eyes as she set a plate of bacon on the table.

"Were you expecting not to be accepted?" She teasingly asked even though she knew Albus was too excited to be listening.

"Sounds like Albus's letter is here." Harry remarked as he entered the kitchen followed by Albus's little sister Lily. Lily was rubbing her eyes tiredly and hadn't quite processed that she should be jealous of Albus right now since she would have to wait two more years for her letter. Albus's older brother James, a second year Gryffindor, was nowhere to be seen. Likely he was still asleep despite the commotion.

"Look Dad, it's my letter!" Albus shouted and shoved his letter proudly into his father's face.

"I see that," Harry replied without even reading the letter. "Go set it on the counter with your list of supplies so they don't get lost."

Albus did as he was told and then took a seat next to Lily at the table. Just as soon as he sat down it hit him that if he got his letter today then Rose, his favorite cousin and best friend, probably got hers as well.

"I'm gonna go to the Weasley's and see if Rose has her letter as well!" Albus said as he jumped up and started for the door.

"Not until after you finish breakfast you're not!" Ginny yelled after him. "I'm certain if you have your letter today, then Rose has hers as well. You two can spend the rest of the day being excited about Hogwarts _after_ you eat breakfast."

Disappointed, Albus returned to his seat. Suddenly he realized the sooner he finished eating the sooner he could go see Rose and started filling his plate and shoveling food into his mouth. Ginny rolled her eyes but let it go this one time. Just as Albus was finishing, James made his way into the kitchen.

"What'd I miss?" he asked taking a seat.

"Guess what? I got my letter!" Albus said excitedly between bites.

"What are you in such a hurry for?" James asked noticing how fast Albus was eating.

"Gonna go see if Rose has hers." He responded.

"So you two can celebrate…until you land in Slytherin that is." James finished wickedly.

"What?! No way I'm gonna be in stinky Slytherin!" Albus shouted. "I'm gonna be in Gryffindor, just like you and Dad and everyone else in our family!"

"No way you're brave enough, cowards go to Slytherin."

"I am too brave enough!"

"Are not!"

"Are too!"

"BOYS! That's enough! James leave your brother alone and both of you no shouting in the house." Harry intervened before the fight got too far.

Albus angrily scooped up his plate and dumped it in the sink and ran out of the house before James could say anything else. Albus was _not_ going to let James ruin his day and he definitely wasn't going to end up in Slytherin. He hoped anyway. Suddenly James' words turned into a stone that settled into his stomach. What if he was a coward and ended up in Slytherin?

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Rose Weasley got up early just as she always did. Throwing on a pair of comfortable jeans and a tank top, she started working on her hair. Though she wasn't a prissy girl by nature and didn't put a whole lot of time into her appearance, her flaming red hair was every bit as curly and bushy as her mother's. Also, you can't have four older female cousins without at least trying to tame your hair. Some days she was successful and some days, well, she always had a hair tie on her wrist or in her pocket.

Finishing her hair, Rose walked downstairs and took a seat at the dining table between her dad and brother while her mum finished up breakfast. Ron hid a smirk and casually asked Rose to grab the mail for him. Rose did as she was asked and was nearly back to her seat when she looked down and spotted the unmistakable letter addressed to her. Shrieking, she dropped the rest of the mail in her dad's lap and ripped open her letter.

Dear Miss Rose Weasley,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all

necessary books and equipment.

Term begins September 1st. We await your owl by no later than July 31st.

Sincerely,

Neville Longbottom, Deputy Headmaster

"I GOT IN!" She exclaimed.

"Congrats Rosie, we're so proud of you!" Ron said and kissed her on top of the head.

Rose was so excited she forgot entirely about breakfast and started rambling on about how she couldn't wait to get her books and what classes were like and what house she was going to be in. Of course she wanted Gryffindor; the tradition of the Weasley's in Gryffindor went back generations, except for her cousin Dominique who was in Ravenclaw.

"Rose honey, eat your breakfast before it gets cold." Hermione reminded her. "Or before your father and brother eat everything" she added.

"Right, of course." Rose responded before serving herself. "I wonder if Al has his letter. Can I go to the Potter's to find out?" Rose asked.

"After breakfast, though I'm sure he does." Hermione answered.

Just then, Albus burst through the front door and yelled "ROSE I have my letter!"

"I do too!" She yelled back.

"I know you kids are excited, but please no yelling." Hermione chided them.

"Sorry mum."

"Sorry Aunt Hermione."

"Why don't you two head to Rosie's room and plot what you're going to do at Hogwarts?" Ron suggested. Both children ginned and ran to Rose's room already excitedly talking about Quidditch and houses.

Only when they were safely in Rose's room did Albus bring up what James had said about him being in Slytherin.

"Don't be ridiculous Al, you know he's just trying to wind you up." Rose said matter of factly. "We're both going to be in Gryffindor just like we've always planned."

With the stone in his stomach gone thanks to his reliable cousin, Albus spent the rest of the day hanging out with Rose and not worrying about the sorting.

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Scorpius Malfoy rolled out of bed and got dressed in his usual clothes, though they were getting a bit snug. His parents promised him they would get him some new clothes in Diagon Alley after he got his Hogwarts letter. Of course, new for him meant second hand because money was tight and clothes on top of all his school supplies was going to be difficult for his parents.

After the war his father Draco had cut ties with Lucius, though still occasionally writing to Narcissa, and thus had been disinherited. Not that it mattered much, his grandparents had been stripped of their wealth by the ministry as part of the punishment for their crimes and all they had left was Malfoy Manor.

Scorpius went out to the dining room and started in on the breakfast his parents had left out for him. They were already down stairs in the shop below the flat working.

His family ran a small bakery in Diagon Alley called Astoria's Petite Patisserie that sold cookies, cakes and pastries. His mum baked while his dad did the bookwork after Astoria discovered that he couldn't be trusted not to catch anything on fire. Scorpius usually helped out in the morning before school and in the evening when he got home. His parents insisted he didn't have to, but he knew they appreciated the help and he really did enjoy baking with his mum.

Scorpius finished breakfast and prepared to head down to the shop to help his mum open for the day when he spotted the mail. Grabbing the small stack, he took it with him as he locked up the flat and went down stairs.

"You forgot the mail Dad." Scorpius said as he handed his father the stack.

"Are you sure about that?" Draco asked, his eyes crinkling as he hid a smile.

Scorpius looked down for the first time at the mail in his hand and right there on top was a letter addressed to him with the Hogwarts crest on it. Without hesitating, Scorpius ripped it open and pulled out the letter.

Dear Mister Scorpius Malfoy,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all

necessary books and equipment.

Term begins September 1st. We await your owl by no later than July 31st.

Sincerely,

Neville Longbottom, Deputy Headmaster

"I've been accepted!" Scorpius said after he finished reading the letter.

"As if there was any doubt after you made that auror's hair fall out." Draco teased him. The ministry found an excuse to search the shop and flat every few years simply because they were Malfoys. On one such occasion when Scorpius was six, he had made a particularly rude auror's hair fall out as his first act of accidental magic. His parents had let him have his favorite chocolate mint chip cookies to celebrate that evening.

"Mum look, I've been accepted to Hogwarts!" He shouted, running out of his dad's tiny office and to the shop's kitchen where his mum was pulling out a sheet of cookies.

"I'm so proud of you honey" his mum said as she hugged and kissed him.

Putting his letter safely in his work robes, Scorpius started on some pastry dough.

"What house do you think I'll be in?" He asked conversationally. "I mean, I know you and dad were in Slytherin and the whole family has been as well. Does that mean I will be too?"

Astoria smiled at her son and answered "Well, these things often run in families but your father and I have worked hard to raise you differently than how we were raised."

Scorpius knew she was referring to the pureblood beliefs of his grandparents that he was specifically raised not to believe and not make the same mistakes of his parents or grandparents. He had attended a local muggle primary school so that he would have a well rounded education and know of the muggle world.

"So, basically, it could go either way? I might be in Slytherin but I might not as well?" Scorpius asked.

Astoria chuckled. "Basically we won't know until the hat is on your head and makes a decision. No matter what that decision is, your father and I are extremely proud of you and know you will do great things at Hogwarts."

Scorpius smiled gratefully at his mother. He had never been pressured to get into Slytherin, but he kind of wanted to just to be like his parents. On the other hand, it kind of scared him because he knew he would be judged poorly already just for being a Malfoy and being a Slytherin on top of that might be too much to handle. He was secretly glad he wouldn't have to make that decision and the hat would choose for him because he honestly had no idea which house he wanted most.


	2. Chapter 2: Unexpected

Chapter 2: Unexpected

Claira Donovan rolled onto her back and stretched before climbing out of bed. Since it was summer vacation and she had no place to be, she skipped dressing for now and went to the kitchen to find breakfast. Her parents started work early, so she and her siblings made their own breakfast. Pouring herself a bowl of cereal, she sat down on the couch in the living room and flipped on the t.v.

She lazily ate her cereal as she waited for her little brother Derek to get up. He was only 13 months younger than her so they were really close. In contrast, her older sister Penelope was sixteen, popular and had way better things to do than hang out with her geeky eleven year old sister or ten year old brother.

It wasn't long before she heard a rustling in the kitchen and knew Derek was up, just as she expected. What she wasn't expecting was the loud clang of a spoon hitting the floor and Derek's shouts of "Come quick, Claira, come quick!"

She jumped up and ran to the kitchen, her bowl upended on the floor.

"I've never seen an owl do that before!" Derek exclaimed as he pointed at the kitchen window. Sure enough, there was an owl sitting on the window sill calm as can be. Stranger yet, it seemed to be holding a letter.

"Weird! I wonder how long it took to train him to do that?" Claira wondered. "I mean, it has to be trained like a carrier pigeon right?"

"I guess," Derek said, "I've just never seen any kind of bird carry a letter like that."

Claira took a couple of hesitant steps forward to get a closer look and noticed that the letter was addressed to her in neat purple script.

"What on earth, it has my name on it!" She said. "Should I try to take it?"

"Don't see why not." Derek said.

Claira cautiously closed the distance to the window and slowly slid it open. As if the owl had been waiting for this, it swooped in, dropped the letter in front of Claira and helped itself to some of Derek's cereal.

Claira screeched and jumped back as soon as the owl got close. Derek chuckled at Claira's clear over reaction to the bird. She retaliated by sticking her tongue out at him. Her family often teased her for being hyper-reactive, as they called it, to being surprised, scared or especially anything that resembled a snake.

Claira retrieved the letter as Derek debated if he was going to try to rescue his cereal or not. The owl must have decided it was full because it suddenly flew back out the window and was gone.

"Well, aren't you going to open it?" Derek asked as he poured out his cereal and made himself another bowl.

Claira shrugged, studying the strange seal on the back. Without seeing a reason not to, she carefully opened the envelope and pulled out the letter. She quickly read through the short note and burst out laughing.

"Ok, I don't know who's behind this but they went through an awful lot of trouble for this practical joke. Perhaps we should reward them or something?" Claira said disbelievingly.

"What do ya mean?" Derek said taking the letter from her. He read out loud:

"Dear Miss Claira Donovan,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all

necessary books and equipment.

Term begins September 1st. We await your owl by no later than July 31st.

Sincerely,

Neville Longbottom, Deputy Headmaster"

Derek too laughed at the note. "Well that was a good one. I wonder if they have cameras posted to catch our expressions, your reaction to the owl was fantastic!"

"Oh shut up!" Claira said as she grabbed some paper towels to clean up her cereal off the living room floor. Just as the siblings got to the living room the doorbell rang.

"I bet we're going to find out who our mysterious prankster is." Claira stated as she pulled open the door.

Standing on the doorstep was a tall, middle-aged man with kind eyes. "Good morning! Sorry to disturb you so early in the day," he began enthusiastically, "but I am hoping to beat…well that." He finished as he laid eyes on the letter still in Derek's hand.

"Drat it! Sorry about all this, it must seem very strange to you. You see, the letters are mailed automatically and we don't always make it to the homes of the muggleborns before their letters arrive."

"The _what_-borns?!" Claira exclaimed slightly worriedly. "Ok, the owl and the letter were all good fun but I'm going to have to ask you to leave." Claira tried to sound as threatening as possible, but a small eleven year old girl could only be so threatening.

"Please Miss Donovan, I only need a few minutes to explain and this will all make sense."

"How do you know my name?" Claira's voice pitched a little as she couldn't keep the fear out of her voice. "Look, I'm going to close the door and you're going to leave or I'm calling the cops." Claira said slowly. She was going to call the cops either way, but this strange man didn't need to know that. Behind her Derek had quietly slipped over to the fireplace and had the poker in hand ready to use.

Before either of them knew what was happening, the strange man muttered something about a 'statue of secrecy' and pulled out a stick. He waved it at the paper towels in Claira's hand and suddenly she was holding a pure white dove.

For the second time that morning, Claira shrieked and jumped back waving her arms in the air. Derek was already on edge and that was all he needed to propel him into action. He charged forward swinging the fire poker at the man's head.

The man waved his stick a second time and the fire poker smacked into seemingly thin air. Two more swipes and Derek was utterly confused. Not knowing what else to do, he placed himself between Claira and the man, holding the fire poker ready to strike again.

"Alright, let's all take a deep breath." The man said, trying to sound soothing. "I know I've completely botched this so just give me a moment to explain. My name if Professor Neville Longbottom." He paused as recognition crossed both children's face. This was the name signed at the bottom of the strange letter. "I am here to discuss both Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and the wizarding world in general with you and your family."

"That's absurd," Derek began weakly then stopped as he realized that he couldn't explain the dove or his inability to hit the man. Claira, behind him, had only opened and closed her mouth several times struggling with the same thoughts as her brother.

"I know it seems that way but if I could come in for a few minutes perhaps we can get this sorted. We're not really supposed to do magic in front of muggles or in a muggle neighborhood." The professor continued.

"There's that word again, muggle, what is that?" Claira asked curiously.

"Sorry, it's what we call non-magical people such as your parents or neighbors." Professor Longbottom replied.

"So why can't you use magic in front of them?" Claira asked.

"Perhaps we can continue this inside?" Professor Longbottom asked. "I can assume your parents aren't home so we'll have to reschedule for later when they are, but I can at least cover the basics with you now."

The siblings exchanged a glance with eachother. Normally they didn't let strangers come in, but there was nothing normal about this morning. Anyway, Claira was pretty good about judging whether people's intentions were good or bad and she wasn't picking up on any bad intentions from this Professor Longbottom. She shrugged and Derek backed up to let him in.

"Our mum is a nurse and our dad works at an advertising firm. They both leave for work pretty early but they'll be home this evening," Claira replied.

Professor Longbottom seated himself on the recliner while Derek sat on the couch. Claira made to join them but stopped short when she realized the cereal still needed to be cleaned up. She turned to go to the kitchen to fetch some paper towels that weren't currently a dove when Professor Longbottom stopped her.

"Wait, let me clean that. It's the perfect opportunity for some less…startling magic." He explained.

Claira shrugged and seated herself next to her brother. Professor Longbottom held his stick up for the siblings to look at. "This is called a wand, we use it to cast spells like this." He waved the wand and said _reparo_ and _scourgify_ loud enough for the children to hear clearly. Amazingly, the bowl righted itself and the crack that had been in it for years vanished. On top of that, all the spilled milk and cereal were gone and the carpet was clean.

"Wow." Claira managed.

"Awesome!" Derek exclaimed. "So you can do all kinds of things with a wand and a weird word?"

Professor Longbottom couldn't help but chuckle especially when he saw Claira roll her eyes at her brother.

"Well, yes I suppose so. There are other kinds of magic Claira will learn at Hogwarts as well such as potions, astronomy, and herbology, which I teach." He answered.

"So I can really do this kind of stuff?" Claira asked.

"Yes, you can. You wouldn't have been accepted to Hogwarts otherwise. Has something strange or unexplainable ever happened when you were upset or scared?"

Claira couldn't think of anything for a moment until she remembered her first day of school in first grade. Penelope was starting secondary school and wanted to look absolutely perfect for school pictures. She was hogging the bathroom and Claira hadn't been able to get in to get her headband so her mother could do her hair for her. Claira had gotten mad because she was afraid that she wouldn't get to wear her headband if Penelope didn't let her in. Next thing she knew, Penelope screamed and pushed past her with bright orange skin. Penelope swore Claira must have put something in her lotion the night before, though their parents never believed it. Still, Penelope bullied Claira for weeks after that.

"So you're saying I can learn to do stuff like that?" Claira asked.

"Well, more useful and less damaging for you sister perhaps." Professor Longbottom replied. However, Claira saw no reason to make it less "damaging" for her sister, Penelope was self-centered and mean and could use taking down a few pegs.

"Now don't you be getting any ideas," said Professor Longbottom, who recognized the look on Claira's face from some of his mischievous students. "You can't do magic outside of Hogwarts until you're seventeen."

"Aw, come on." Claira whined.

"It's the law and you'll get in trouble if you do."

Claira was still pouting slightly when her dad burst through the front door.

"Hey kids, forgot my lunch on the fridge…" He stopped short as he took in the scene before him. His kids were sitting in the living room still in their pajamas with a strange man in the recliner. Derek had the fire poker still in his hand and he could have sworn he heard a dove.

"Hey dad. So we have something to tell you. Apparently I'm a witch and can go learn magic at a school called Hogwarts…"

Neville got the sudden feeling that this was going to be a long day.


	3. Chapter 3: All Aboard

A/N: I wrote this chapter assuming that you have read the epilogue. Everything that happened in the epilogue happens in this story, I just thought it was a waste of space including it in the middle of the chapter, so this starts just after the epilogue. Enjoy!

Chapter 3: All Aboard

Scorpius Malfoy was beginning to get more and more nervous as he looked at the giant scarlet engine in front of him. His nerves were making him go from pale to sickly white and he hoped he didn't puke.

"Have fun and try to make friends on the train honey." His mum said, giving him a quick hug and kiss.

"You'll do great." His father said, understanding where his nerves were coming from. It wasn't hard to notice that all the people on the crowded platform were giving them a wide berth. In primary school, Scorpius had had no problem making friends since there was no prejudice against the Malfoy name there. Here was going to be a different story. He could already see that no one wanted near him.

Taking a deep breath, Scorpius hugged his parents one last time and promised to write. He grabbed the end of his trunk and dragged it on the train. Finding a compartment, he hoisted his trunk into the luggage rack and took a seat.

Taking a deep breath, Scorpius prepared himself for a long train ride. He hoped someone would decide to share his compartment with him, but he doubted it as every face that peered in turned into a scowl and moved on to find a different compartment. With his blonde hair, grey eyes and tall, thin build, Scorpius looked exactly like his father and no one needed to ask his name to know who he was. Sighing miserably, Scorpius pulled out his charms book and started reading to pass the time.

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Albus and Rose flopped down on seats opposite eachother in their compartment, completely out of breath from hurrying to catch the train. Rose grinned at Albus, her excitement shining through now that they were no longer in danger of missing the train.

"Can you believe it, it's actually happening, we're on our way to Hogwarts!" She said excitedly.

Al smiled weakly in return and nodded.

Rose rolled her eyes at him. "Don't tell me you're still listening to James and believe you're going to be in Slytherin, because you're not." She said irritably.

Al shrugged. He knew better than to believe James in these sort of matters. But after a month and a half of listening to him point out every Slytherin thing Albus did and insisting he would be in Slytherin, it was kind of hard not be worried about it. He did feel better after talking to his dad. It gave him hope that he wouldn't be in Slytherin or, if he was, he wouldn't be disowned.

"_Al_, come on, you _know_ what I'm going to say don't you?" Rose demanded.

"We're both going to be in Gryffindor just as we always planned." Al recited. They had been doing this routine since they got their Hogwarts letters. James would convince Albus that he was going to be in Slytherin and Rose would insist they were both going to Gryffindor and make him say it out loud. Strangely, it seemed to help him believe it by saying it out loud. It was a trick Rose had read in a book somewhere and decided to try it on Albus.

Rose smiled at him, satisfied that he was calmed down for now. Just then the compartment door slid open and two boys, who appeared to be first years as well, stood there. The first one was a tall, lean black guy with a short buzz cut who looked vaguely familiar. The other boy was of average build with neat brown hair and hazel eyes.

"Do you mind if we join you?" The second boy asked.

"Of course, please do." Rose answered politely

"I'm Kyle Wellington and this is Adrian Thomas by the way." Kyle said, taking a seat next to Rose.

"Of course, it's not hard to guess who you guys are," Adrian said smartly. "You must be Albus Potter and one of the Weasleys, though I can't say which."

Albus and Rose exchanged a slightly uneasy glance. With such famous parents they were used to people recognizing them, but few people were so bold about it. Al shrugged, he supposed he did look a lot like his father with messy raven hair and green eyes and Rose was recognizably a Weasley with flaming hair and freckles; guess he couldn't blame Adrian for pointing out the obvious.

"I'm Rose, Ron and Hermione's daughter." She answered.

"And I go by Al," Al added.

"Pleasure to meet you both. I'm Dean Thomas's oldest kid in case you didn't know." Adrian said.

The cousins suddenly realized why Adrian looked so familiar: they had met Dean Thomas in Diagon Alley a couple of years ago and he had pointed out Adrian, who had been too engrossed with the quidditch shop to be dragged away for introductions.

"Oh yeah, we met your dad a couple of years ago when Aunt Hermione and Uncle Ron took us for ice cream." Al said. Adrian looked rather pleased about this.

"He was in the DA, you know, and fought in the Battle of Hogwarts." Adrian said proudly. Albus and Rose smiled uncertainly, not quite sure what to say.

"That's cool," Kyle said. "My parents had graduated several years before the battle, so they didn't participate."

"I bet you know loads of magic already." Adrian said. "Did Harry teach you his famous disarming spell yet?"

"You know the disarming spell? Can you teach us?" Kyle added excitedly.

"Actually, we're not allowed to do magic at home, same as you." Albus said slowly. He didn't like people to just assume he was like his dad or that he could do powerful magic. He was just a normal kid as far as he was concerned. He and his family just had to put up with people following them around and wanting pictures and interviews. That was the only difference between his childhood and anyone else's really.

Of course, Albus's less than enthusiastic answer didn't faze either of their companions.

"Did your mum help you practice wand movements and pronunciations?" Kyle asked Rose. "That's all my parents would do with me before sending me off. If she did, you'll be top of the class for sure."

Rose's face turned a bit red and she had a dangerous look on her face. She hated being overshadowed by how clever her mum was. Just because she did well at primary school and liked to read occasionally, suddenly she was 'Rose, the next Hermione' instead of just Rose.

"I barely read the first few chapters in the books, I didn't even talk to mum about any of it." Rose answered sourly.

Again, Adrian and Kyle were unfazed by the unenthusiastic answer. They continued to ask the cousins questions about their famous relatives and Adrian brought up his dad's role in the war as often as possible. Before long, Albus and Rose were looking for a way to escape. Since their luggage was already in the rack and they didn't want to have to run to their older cousins for help, they were stuck with their two star-struck companions. Rose gave Albus a pleading look and Al knew he had to do something before she snapped.

"My mum played for the Holyhead Harpies, so naturally I'm a supporter of them. How 'bout you guys, do you follow quidditch?" Al asked.

"You bet I do!" Kyle answered. "Though I support Puddlemere United just like my folks."

With the tension in the compartment broken with talk of quidditch, Rose calmed down and joined in. She was still planning out how to politely ditch their companions once they arrived however. She didn't really have anything against Adrian and Kyle other than finding them slightly annoying; she really just wanted to hang out with people who could see that she and Albus were more than just their parents' kids.

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Claira Donovan stared uncertainly at the brick wall a few yards in front of her. Professor Longbottom had carefully explained that she had to walk straight through the wall to get to platform 9 ¾, but she was beginning to lose confidence that she'd be able to do it without him there to guide her.

Claira looked over her shoulder at her family. Her parents and Derek had come to see her off. Penelope had been avoiding Claira ever since she found out she was a witch, so she had found something else to do today instead. Claira's parents had taken the news fairly well, but didn't really know how to handle the wizarding world at large. Derek, on the other hand, had spent the rest of the summer trying to do magic so he could go to Hogwarts next year as well. This hadn't really bothered their parents until Derek had tried to jump off the roof to see if he could fly and they had to put a stop to his antics before he hurt himself.

Claira was mentally preparing herself to make a run at the wall when a family of four approached. There was a girl with long, straight golden brown hair pushing a trolley with a trunk and a covered bird cage on it while her little sister skipped along beside her and her parents lead the way. The father stopped and took a brief look around while the mother grabbed the little girl's hand and the three of them casually walked toward the wall between platforms 9 and 10. Just as they reached the wall, they disappeared and Claira knew they were on platform 9 ¾. The girl with the trolley looked over at Claira and smiled kindly.

"Is this your first time trying to get on the platform?" She asked.

"Yeah, I'm a first year and a muggleborn." Claira explained.

The girl smiled at this. "Well, I happen to be a pureblood but that doesn't change that I'm a first year and this is my first time as well." She said. "I'm Natalie Yaxley by the way."

"Claira Donovan, nice to meet you." Claira said and shook Natalie's hand. Claira felt more at ease now that she had met someone raised in the wizarding world and could see that Natalie was starting at the beginning just like her. Claira and her parents had been worried about Claira being behind because she was muggleborn even though Professor Longbottom insisted that wouldn't be the case. Seeing Natalie in the same position as her made her believe the professor a bit more.

"Want to go through together?" Natalie asked.

"Yeah, that'd be great." Claira responded and the two girls lined their carts up facing the wall.

"On three," Natalie said. "One…Two…Three!" Both girls took off at a trot towards the wall. When they reached the wall, Claira expected to feel something, but the only thing that happened was a slight whoosh and they were on the platform. Both girls grinned at eachother happily.

"Natalie, come on, keep up." Her mother called to her.

"Got to go, but I'll see you at Hogwarts." Natalie said.

"Alright, see you later." Claira said and both girls waved good-bye as Natalie rejoined her family and Claira look to make sure her parents and Derek made it to the platform alright. The three of them stepped through holding hands, her mother's eyes were squeezed shut as if she was bracing for an impact.

"Wicked!" Derek exclaimed. "Now what do we do?" He asked excitedly.

"Well, it looks like we get Claira on the train." Her dad answered. "Why don't you two get Claira's luggage in a compartment and then come meet us here?"

"Ok," Derek said slightly disappointedly. He had been hoping more magic would be involved but he settled for taking over the trolley while Claira followed behind him.

Once her things were settled in an empty compartment, Derek grabbed Claira into a big hug. "Promise me you'll write?" He asked. "I know you're going to be busy with school and magic and having fun, but I'm gonna miss you."

Claira held back tears as she squeezed him back. This was the first time she would really be separated from Derek and was already missing him. "You just want to hear about all the magic." She teased.

Derek chuckled at that. "Well, true, I suppose." He said getting a laugh out of Claira.

"I'm gonna miss you too. I promise I'll write about everything, but you have to promise to write back." She said.

"Promise!" He said.

"Come on, I need to say good-bye to mum and dad and we'd better get you off the train before you're accused of being a stow away." Claira said teasingly. Leading the way back to their parents, Claira took a deep breath trying to keep calm. She was feeling so many emotions of excitement, sadness, fear and joy that she was getting overwhelmed. She knew, though, she was starting the biggest adventure of her life and hoped desperately that Derek could join her next year.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

A/N 2: By the way, I did edit chapter 1, the only thing I did was change the name of the shop the Malfoys run to Astoria's Petite Patisserie. Sorry if there's any confusion, the idea just hit me today.


	4. Chapter 4: Without a Paddle

A/N: Here's one of the chapters I've been excited about writing. I have another week of summer left, so chapters will likely come fairly quickly until school starts up again. I'll try to post once a week after school starts as well.

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Chapter 4: Without a Paddle

By the time Claira found her compartment again, four girls had already settled there as well. Claira was surprised but not unhappy, she didn't really want to spend the whole ride by herself.

"Sorry for intruding, but we couldn't find anywhere else to sit." One of the girls explained sheepishly.

"It's no problem, I didn't really want the compartment all to myself anyway." Claira said, taking a seat. Introductions followed, though it didn't take Claira long to forget who was who. She wasn't normally bad with names, but she was still a bit overwhelmed and her suddenly crowded, chatty compartment made it hard to focus on each girl individually.

The conversation in the compartment flowed between quidditch, houses, and classes with the girls talking excitedly on each topic. Claira understood the conversation fairly well thanks to the packets Professor Longbottom had given her and her family about common wizarding activities, current and recent events, and important people. However, Claira didn't have much to add because it was all so new to her, so she was quieter than she otherwise would have been. Though it was clear the other girls knew eachother somewhat, they made an effort to include Claira, which she appreciated.

Soon it was announced that they would be arriving in five minutes. The girls started putting their stuff away when Claira realized with a jolt that she wasn't changed yet.

"Curse it! I forgot to change." Claira said while she fished her uniform out from her trunk. "Don't worry about waiting for me, I don't want to hold you all up." She said as she headed to the loo to change.

"Ok, if you're sure. We'll see you out there." One of the girls, who Claira was fairly certain was named Michelle, said.

Claira changed into her robes in record time, threw her regular clothes in her trunk and made it out to the platform. She took in her surroundings trying to figure out where to go. It seemed like most of the students were heading off to the right where a line of horseless carriages waited. Luckily, she noticed a clump of first years off to the left gathered around the largest man she had ever seen. He was twice as tall as the students around him and had a bushy, grey beard and thinning hair. Claira ran to join them.

"Al' right, is ev'ryone here?" The man asked in a booming voice that had no trouble being heard over the noise of all the students. Claira blushed slightly and nodded with everyone else.

"Right, I'm Hagrid, the Care of Magical Creatures professor and Keeper of the Keys at Hogwarts." The man, Hagrid, said. "Follow me, as first years you get an extra special trip up to Hogwarts, you do."

The children began talking excitedly as they followed Hagrid down a windy path to the edge of a lake. There on the water was a cluster of about fifteen boats, each with its own lantern hanging near the front.

"Now, no more 'n four to a boat and we'll be off." Hagrid instructed.

Claira looked around for a boat to join. She noticed a blonde boy sitting in the back of a boat by himself staring unhappily at his shoes. Seeing as the boy didn't have anyone to sit with and she didn't either, Claira made her way over to his boat and stepped in.

Scorpius looked up in surprise when he realized someone had willingly joined his boat. He took in the tall girl with pale blue eyes and the curliest, dirty blonde hair he had ever seen. However, neither of them had time to say anything as a red headed girl dragging a dark haired boy behind her jumped in their boat to fill the last two seats. The two newest companions were out of breath from running, though neither Claira nor Scorpius could figure out why they were in such a hurry.

All attempts at small talk were forgotten as the boats suddenly took off from the shore and set out across the lake. It was nighttime already, so the crescent moon and the stars reflected off the calm lake and the forest that surrounded the lake was quiet and mysterious. It was absolutely enchanting, Claira thought to herself, and she could see that her companions where mesmerized as well.

Claira leaned over to get a better view of the reflections on the water when she saw something slithering a few yards away. Claira didn't even think, she just reacted like she always did when she saw a snake. She shrieked, jumped up, unfortunately tripped over the girl sitting next to her, and slammed into the far side of the boat, capsizing it.

All four children where plunged into the cold, dark water. None of them could see or really tell which way was up. Fortunately, they weren't very far from the surface and Scorpius and Albus popped up quickly. Looking around, they realized that neither of the girls had surfaced and both boys dove to help them. The girls had gotten tangled with eachother when the boat capsized and neither one could see the other to get untangled.

Albus had barely begun to swim down when someone kicked his shoulder. He grunted with pain but managed to grab the person's ankle and swim towards the surface. They both surfaced and Al realized he had grabbed the girl who had accidentally capsized the boat. His heart hammered in his chest as he looked around for Rose. A moment later both she and the other boy surfaced, gasping for breath.

All four swam to their capsized boat and grabbed on to the sides for floatation. They could see in the distance the rest of the boats continuing on without them. Professor Hagrid appeared to be waving around a pink umbrella, but whatever he was trying to do with it didn't seem to be working.

"Great," Rose said, "apparently the locomotor spell doesn't work when the boat is capsized."

"We could try to flip it right side up and see if that helps." Al offered.

"Well, we probably wouldn't be able to hold on if the boat took off after that or get back in without capsizing it again." Scorpius said. "Let's just hang on and start kicking towards the rest of the boats and hopefully someone will get help when they get to shore."

Al and Rose nodded, seeing the logic in his statement. Claira was too shocked and mortified to do anything but follow the lead of the others.

"You two," Scorpius said, indicating Al and Claira, "go just around the point to the other side and we'll stay on this side so it's balanced and let's all start kicking"

Once they were on opposite sides on the end of the boat, the foursome started kicking and steering the boat in the direction the rest of the boats had gone. After a minute of silent kicking, Rose broke the silence.

"I'm Rose Weasley, by the way." She said, slightly out of breath.

"You want to do introductions now?" Scorpius asked incredulously.

"Well, I'm tired of 'hey you' and 'you over there,' so yes, I want to do introductions now." Rose answered.

Scorpius inclined his head, seeing her point, and said "I'm Scorpius Malfoy," and look expectantly at the boy on the other side.

"Al Potter," Al responded to Scorpius's look.

"I'm Claira Donovan and I am _so_ sorry you guys." Claira spoke for the first time, sounding miserable. "I'm terrified of snakes and every time I see one I can't help it, I just react."

"It's ok," Rose said, feeling bad for Claira. "I know you didn't mean to." Both boys nodded as well to show their support. It had clearly been an accident and they were all in this together, so there was no sense in assigning blame.

"Anyway, it probably wasn't a snake at all, it was probably the giant squid." Al added, trying to be helpful. Claira wasn't sure if a giant squid was any better than a snake, but she smiled gratefully all the same.

All four of them were breathing heavily after a few minutes, but none of them stopped kicking because it took all four of them to move the boat. The exercise turned out to be useful in keeping them warm in the chilly water as well. The children rounded a slight bend and gasped as the castle suddenly appeared sprawling in the distance. It was magnificent, with its high towers and twinkling windows seeming to welcome them from a distance. All four of them forgot to kick as they stared at it in wonder.

Suddenly, the boat gave a slight jerk and took off slowly but steadily towards the boathouse where they could see the rest of the boats waiting for them. They could see a man, who all but Scorpius recognized as Professor Longbottom when they got closer, standing with his wand held high and pointed at their boat. Along with Hagrid and the rest of the first years, Al and Rose recognized their cousin Victoire, who was Head Girl, standing with a young man who had to be Head Boy.

As soon as their boat touched the dock, hands reached down to help them out of the lake and drying spells were cast on all sides.

"What happened out there?" Victoire demanded. "I _knew_ I should have kept a closer eye on you two." She said to Al and Rose. They weren't quite sure how Victoire could have kept a closer eye on them from the carriages the older years took to the castle, but decided to not say anything. Claira blushed at the question and looked at her feet to avoid the adults' gaze. The other three didn't want to make her feel worse and so didn't comment on how exactly the boat had been capsized.

"Never mind that for now," Professor Longbottom said after a moment of silence from the foursome. "Is everyone alright?" He asked, studying each of the four students carefully. They all nodded affirmatively, even though they all had one bruise or sore spot somewhere from colliding with eachother in the water. They were just glad to be out of the lake and back with the rest of the group.

"Alright, if you're sure," Professor Longbottom said and the foursome nodded again, "then everyone follow me." And he led the entire group of first years toward the castle. Rose looked to her left and saw Claira fighting with her hair. Getting wet and then dried quickly was causing her shoulder length, corkscrew curls to turn into an afro and Rose realized her hair wasn't doing much better. Rose slid her extra hair tie off her wrist and handed it to Claira. Claira smiled and thanked her while both girls tied their hair back. Rose hoped that she had managed to make her first friend at Hogwarts that wasn't based on her parent's fame. She suspected that she had made two actually as she, Claira, Al, and Scorpius stuck close together the entire way up to the castle.

Professor Longbottom led the first years into the entrance hall. He slowed down to give the students time to take in the sheer size of the hall as well as the grand staircase and the moving portraits. Claira had read about the pictures in the wizarding world moving in one of her packets from Professor Longbottom, but was still amazed at seeing them in person. Professor Longbottom led them to a small room off to the side and waited for all the students to file in before beginning.

"I am Professor Longbottom, Deputy Headmaster, your herbology instructor, and head of Gryffindor house. While they're here, I might as well introduce Head Girl Victoire Weasley and Head Boy Tyler Bachman. They are here to assist you if you need it, as are the prefects for each house and any professor." Professor Longbottom explained then dismissed Victoire and Tyler back to the great hall.

"You will soon be sorted into your house, which will be a family away from home for you." He continued. "Your house will support you in your studies and on your seven year journey here that will define and change you in more ways than you can imagine. Good behavior will gain your house points and bad behavior will cause your house to lose points and may even earn you a detention if the action warrants it. The house with the most points at the end of the year wins the coveted House Cup. The houses are Gryffindor which values courage, Ravenclaw: knowledge; Slytherin: ambition; and Hufflepuff: friendship. No one house is better or worse than any of the others, and just because each house values one trait above the others does not mean that it's students lack the traits of the other houses. Now, if everyone can form two lines, we'll go to the great hall where you will all be sorted."

Al, Rose, Claira, and Scorpius ended up in the middle of the two lines and followed the students ahead of them to the great hall. None of them had had very much time to contemplate houses since the train due to their unusual boat ride, so nerves were just now beginning to set in. No matter their extraordinary journey to this point, they all now stood before the doors leading to the great hall and the sorting.


	5. Chapter 5 Who You Are and Who You're Not

A/N: Well, this chapter turned into a monster that is twice as long as any of the other chapter. Everything that happens is necessary and there isn't a good spot in the middle to split it, so here you go. Also, I want to say THANK YOU to evilplotbunnies for the nice review :D

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Chapter 5: Who You Are and Who You're Not

Professor Longbottom led the students to the front of the great hall and left them there while he went to get the stool and sorting hat. The first years looked around in wonder at the house tables with their banners hanging above them and the ceiling that was enchanted to mirror the sky outside. Claira was staring at it all when she noticed Al looking a little green beside her.

"What's wrong?" She asked him.

"Um, just worried about the sorting." Al said. Beside him, Rose rolled her eyes.

"We've grown up wanting to be in Gryffindor like our families, but his nitwit older brother convinced him he's going to be in Slytherin." Rose explained.

"Nothing wrong with Slytherin, my whole family has been there." Scorpius said. Claira had learned on the train ride that most people considered Slytherin to be the evil house, though she wanted to wait and see for herself before she agreed or disagreed.

"Nothing personal," Rose said quickly, "we just grew up with war stories of heroic Gryffindors and usually the Slytherins were evil." She finished slightly sheepishly.

"Not all the time though," Al added, thinking of his dad's story about Professor Snape.

Scorpius shrugged. "Can't blame you I suppose. I grew up with stories of Slytherins outsmarting their opponents and Gryffindors who ran into dangerous situations without thinking. However, I also grew up with stories of my family's mistakes during the war and how I shouldn't repeat them."

Al and Rose considered this. They could tell that Scorpius was different from the stories they heard, especially from Rose's dad, about the Malfoys growing up. Now they knew why he was so different. Claira, on the other hand, was going to have to question Scorpius later. She picked up on that his family was on the wrong side of the war, but didn't know the full story. She knew the Weasleys and the Potters from her packets, but there had been no mention of the Malfoys.

"What about you?" Scorpius asked Claira. "What house do you want?"

"Don't know, I'm the first witch in the family. I'll probably end up in Ravenclaw though; I read a lot and play piano. That sounds very Ravenclaw-ish to me." She answered. The other three were momentarily jealous of her since she had no family history to live up to, or famous or infamous parents to overshadow her.

Scorpius decided there and then that he wanted whatever house Claira got in. He had spent the entire train ride alone and miserable and didn't want to be separated from one of the only friends he had made that didn't judge him based on his family's or Slytherin's reputations. He liked Al and Rose as well, but he knew Claira would be sorted first and if he followed her it would guarantee they, at least, would be in the same house.

Professor Longbottom returned with the hat and stool and set them up in the front of the room. The great hall quieted down and everyone stared at the sorting hat expectantly. After a momentary silence, the hat began to sing its welcoming song about the four houses. When it finished, everyone clapped and Professor Longbottom stepped forward with a scroll in hand.

"When I call your name, you will come over and sit down. I will place the sorting hat on your head and then you will join whichever house it calls out. Good luck." Professor Longbottom said. He unrolled the scroll and read off the first name.

"Anderson, Karin." A girl with long blonde hair, whom Claira recognized from her compartment on the train, stepped forward and sat down. After a moment, the hat called out "Hufflepuff!"and Karin ran to join her new house as all the students in the school applauded.

"Boot, Anna" "Ravenclaw!"

"Boyle, Hecter" "Hufflepuff!"

Claira realized the names were being called off in alphabetical order by last name, which meant she would be coming up fairly soon. She was suddenly nervous about being in front of the whole school while she was sorted.

Ellen Campbell became the first Gryffindor while Aaron Carter and McKayla Cunningham went to Ravenclaw before the professor called out:

"Donovan, Claira." Claira stepped forward and carefully sat down on the stool. Professor Longbottom put the hat on her head, which dropped down to cover her eyes.

_Well, well, first in your family to come to Hogwarts and be sorted I see_. Claira thought the hat was talking out loud to her, but then realized the voice was in her head. _Clever girl_, the hat said, _now what to do with you?_

'_I don't know_,' Claira thought. '_I just want to fit in_.' Claira had been considered dorky in school because she screeched and ducked every time a ball came at her in physical education and geeky because she read a lot. This meant that Claira didn't have a lot of close friends other than her brother Derek.

_Well, for the girl who memorized every piece of information she was given about the wizarding world and still thirsts for more, there is only one place for you and I promise you will fit in well in_ Ravenclaw! The hat shouted the last word out and Claira grinned. She took off the hat and ran to the table with the blue and bronze ties and patches on their uniforms. She sat down and shook hands with several of her new classmates before focusing back in on the sorting.

Rachel Goyle was next and became the first Slytherin. Claira stopped paying attention as she noticed her friends looking very nervous as they waited to be sorted. Several more students were sorted as Claira tried to give her friends reassuring looks, though she wasn't sure if they saw her. Maximus Kingston became a Gryffindor and then:

"Malfoy, Scorpius" was called. Scorpius felt slightly sick as he approached the stool. He was glad when Claira had been declared a Ravenclaw, but now he was scared that he wouldn't be able to make Ravenclaw as well. What if he was stuck in Slytherin just because of his family?

_How unusual, a Malfoy who doesn't want to be in Slytherin_. The hat said after it was dropped on his head. _It has been a_ very _long time since that has happened. Are you sure? _The hat asked.

'_Please not Slytherin,'_ Scorpius thought.

_Well, you certainly are a clever boy,_ the hat said. _You did manage to think your way out of a hazardous situation this evening. You'll do well in_ Ravenclaw!

Scorpius grinned and ran to the table. He was so happy that he didn't even notice that the rest of the school was so shocked at his sorting that they forgot to clap for a moment. Claira, though, was grinning and cheering loudly for him as he took a seat next to her.

Apparently the O's and N's where popular last names this year because there where quite a few of them. Finally, Michelle O'Neil was sorted into Hufflepuff and it was Albus's turn.

"Potter, Albus" was called out and Al stepped forward. He was positively green as he sat down and the sorting hat was dropped on his head.

The sorting hat chuckled. _Not Slytherin? You are not the first Potter to be sitting here thinking that._ The hat said. _You have ambition, but not the type that Slytherin values. You want to earn your worth, not use your fame to your advantage. No, Slytherin is not the place for you._

Albus breathed a huge sigh of relief. '_Please Gryffindor_,' he thought.

_Gryffindor? You worry about being constantly compared to your father and yet you want in the same house as he was in? _The hat asked. Albus realized the hat had a point, as soon as he was in Gryffindor the comparisons to his dad would begin in full force. However, he had never wanted to be anywhere else in his life.

_Consider also that your brother James is in Gryffindor as well. Going to Gryffindor would mean six full years in the same house as your brother_. The hat said. Again, Albus realized the hat had a point. He knew that James was going to pick on him and prank him whenever he could and being in the same house as James would make Al an easy target. That was the final straw for Al, he didn't want to be in Gryffindor anymore.

'_That's what I thought,'_ the hat said. _Gryffindor is not the house for you, you belong in_ Ravenclaw!

Albus took off the hat and walked down to the Ravenclaw table and sat across from Claira and Scorpius. The cheering for him was so loud that he barely heard James's surprised exclamation of "_What!_" from the Gryffindor table.

Albus didn't pay attention to the sorting as he processed his placement. On one hand, he was glad he was away from James and with his two new friends. On the other hand, the hat had never said he was intelligent or clever enough for Ravenclaw; it just seemed to put him there for lack of a better option. What if he didn't fit in because he wasn't as smart as his housemates? Albus was snapped out of his thoughts when he heard Rose's name get called.

"Weasley, Rose."

Rose's confidence about the sorting went out the window as soon as Al ended up in Ravenclaw. She was absolutely torn between Gryffindor, where she always wanted to be, and Ravenclaw, where her best friend that she had always planned on going through Hogwarts with was. With these thoughts circling around in her head, she sat down and the sorting hat was placed on her head.

_Indecisive are we?_ The hat asked. _You want Gryffindor but your best friend is in Ravenclaw? Now what should we do with you?_

Rose didn't have an answer to that question. She considered her options. On one hand, her dad had said she would be disowned if she wasn't in Gryffindor, but she was fairly certain he was joking. She supposed she could make new friends in Gryffindor, though the thought scared her. Then there was Ravenclaw, where she was sure she would be constantly told of how like her mother she was for having her intelligence.

_True, but Hermione was in Gryffindor. It would be easier for you to escape those comparisons if you were in a different house, though you cannot deny that you are your mother's child._ The hat pointed out. _But the choice is yours. You are brave enough for Gryffindor and intelligent enough for Ravenclaw and either would suit you well._

Rose was irritated at the hat's response about her mother, but knew it was probably right. She was intelligent like her mother and that wasn't a bad thing, she would just have to work hard at carving out her own niche.

'_I value Al's friendship over my family's traditions and your right about escaping my mother's shadow. I want Ravenclaw_' Rose thought.

The hat chuckled. _How very Hufflepuff of you_, it teased_. But you have made a good decision and belong in _Ravenclaw!

Rose grinned as she trotted down to her table and sat down next to Albus as the rest of the Ravenclaws cheered loudly for her.

Kyle Wellington, whom Al and Rose remembered from the train, was next and was sorted into Gryffindor. The sorting ended with Natalie Yaxley and Melaina Zabini both going to Slytherin.

A tall, stately woman who was seated in the middle of the head table stood up. She had a streak of grey hair at her left temple and grey was mixed in throughout her dark hair. She tapped her glass and everyone quieted down and turned towards her.

"I would like to welcome all the new students and congratulate them on their sorting. Also, I would like to welcome back all the returning students as well," She began in a clear voice that carried easily to the back of the room. "I am Professor Vector, Headmistress here at Hogwarts. Now, I know everyone is hungry after their long train ride, so I'll keep announcements down to three. First, the forbidden forest is still forbidden." She got a few chuckles at that. "Second, no magic of any kind is to be cast in the corridors between classes. And last, all products from Weasley's Wizard Wheezes and Zonko's are banned from the school. Now all that's left to do is enjoy the feast." She finished and clapped her hands once. The tables were suddenly filled with a fantastic feast. There were all kinds of chicken, duck and pork as well as every kind of side dish imaginable.

Claira, Rose, Al, and Scorpius all began eagerly filling their plates. They were extra hungry from the exercise they got from having to swim for part of their journey. They had just begun eating when they were approach by a Ravenclaw girl who was clearly in one of the upper years. She was tall and lean, but had an athletic build with strong shoulders. Her long, straight red hair and bright blue eyes made Claira and Scorpius suspect she was one of the Weasleys, though she didn't look much like Rose.

"Congratulations you two!" She said to Rose and Albus and gave them each a hug. Claira looked at them confused. She could see that Rose and the older girl were probably related, but couldn't figure out where Al fit in.

Rose saw her confusion, but took a moment to figure out where it was coming from.

"Oh!" She exclaimed. "Al and I are cousins. His mom and my dad are brother and sister." Rose explained. "And this is Dominique Weasley, she's our cousin as well. Victoire, the Head Girl, is her older sister." Claira and Scorpius could see the resemblance between Victoire and Dominique, now that Rose mentioned it, even though Victoire had blonde hair while Dominique's was red. They were both tall and thin with bright blue eyes and straight hair.

"How many of you are there?" Claira asked incredulously before she could stop herself. "I'm sorry, that was terribly rude." She said, embarrassed.

Dominique laughed as she sat down. "Don't worry, we get that a lot. I have a little brother, Louis, who's a third year and Fred and Al's brother, James, are second years. Everyone has been in Gryffindor except me, until now. So, who are you two?"

"Oh, I'm Claira and this is Scorpius." Claira said. Dominique smiled and shook both of their hands.

"So apparently something interesting happened during the boat ride across the lake. There are a bunch of rumors flying around and Professor Longbottom had to come grab Vic and Tyler to help out. Did you guys see what happened?" Dominique asked.

All four of them blushed and didn't answer.

"Oh no, don't tell that was you guys who caused all that commotion."

Claira figure the truth was going to come out at some point, so she might as well just tell Dominique the story. "Well, you see, I startle easily and when I do, I tend to over react. I can't really help it." She began. "Well, I thought I saw a snake in the water and I freaked out and jumped up. I ended up tripping over Rose here and capsizing the boat."

Dominique burst out laughing at this. "Did the boat continue on without you? How'd you get back to shore?" She asked once she stopped laughing.

"No, it stopped moving once it was capsized." Al said. "I wanted to flip the boat over so it would propel itself again but Scorpius pointed out that we probably wouldn't be able to hold on while hanging off the sides if it took off again."

"I figured we could just hold on as it was and kick to propel it" Scorpius said.

"Once we were within sight, Professor Longbottom was able to use magic to get us to shore and everyone dried us off." Al finished.

"Well that explains that," Dominique said, chuckling still. "Is that how you all met?" They all nodded.

"So what got you all into Ravenclaw?" Dominique asked, changing the subject. "I don't mean to pry, but I know these two," she said indicating Al and Rose, "were shooting for Gryffindor all the way, so I'm kind of curious what happened."

Claira shrugged. "I'm the first witch in my family, so I don't have a family history of being in any house. After reading the descriptions of all the houses, I always thought Ravenclaw fit me best and here I am."

Dominique nodded and waited for the next person to respond.

"Well," Scorpius began, "honestly, I'm here because Claira is here." He blushed after admitting that but continued on. "No one wanted to sit with me on the train because I'm a Malfoy and I didn't want to be all alone in Slytherin, so I came here where I at least knew someone. And the hat did say I was clever enough for it." He finished.

None of the other three knew what to say. Though their journeys hadn't been the best, they had still enjoyed some of it and weren't completely miserable.

Dominique reached over and gave Scorpius's hand a reassuring squeeze. "Well, I'm glad you're here," she said. "Anyone who helps out my little cousins is good in my book. Let me know if anyone gives you any more trouble, I'm a prefect and can sort them out."

"Thanks." Scorpius said gratefully.

Dominique looked at her cousins expectantly; they were the only ones that hadn't shared about their sorting.

"I'm here for basically the same reasons as Scorpius." Rose said. "I didn't want to be compared to my famous parents and everyone else was here so I thought I'd join the party."

Everyone laughed and then looked at Al.

"Well," he began, "I didn't want to be compared to my dad all the time and I _definitely_ didn't want near James, so the hat just kind of stuck me here. It said that neither Gryffindor nor Slytherin were a good fit so I belonged in Ravenclaw. It ran out of options I guess." He finished somewhat dejectedly.

"At least we're all together," Rose said encouragingly.

"Oh, don't get me wrong, I'm really happy about that." Al said quickly. "It's just that the hat never said I was intelligent or clever or anything."

Dominique smiled encouragingly at Al. "Al, I was sorted her for a lot of the same reasons you were: I wanted away from Victoire and our family's legacy. I wanted my own place, so I was sorted here without the hat specifically saying anything about me being clever. Look, I want you to listen carefully to the welcoming speech you all will hear once we're up in the tower and really think about it. Give yourself some time and you'll see that you belong here. The sorting hat has seen inside the minds of everyone here and is never wrong. If it says you _belong_ in Ravenclaw, then you are clever enough to be here."

"Ok." Was all Al said and he hoped Dominique was right.

"I knew you'd be a great prefect." Rose said to Dominique. Dominique rolled her eyes at that. She had never really wanted to follow in her sister's footsteps and be a prefect, so she had been surprised and dismayed when the badge showed up over the summer.

"I'm gonna go finish eating with my friends," Dominique said, standing up. "Try not to wander off when Mike and I lead you guys to the tower in a little while." She said teasingly and went to rejoin her friends.

After dessert was finished, the Headmistress dismissed everyone back to their common rooms with instructions for the fifth year prefects to lead the first years so they wouldn't get lost.

A blonde boy with wavy, side-swept hair stood up along with Dominique and they started calling for the first years to gather around them.

"Everyone here?" The boy began after the first years were clumped around him. "There's nine of them right?"

"Yeah, five girls and four boys." Dominique confirmed. They took a quick head count to make sure they had everyone.

"Alright, I'm Mike Monroe and this is Dominique Weasley. We're your fifth year prefects. Now, if everyone is ready, we'll show you the way up to our tower."

"Stick close and try to pay attention to where we're going. It will probably take you a few days to really learn the route, but the more you pay attention now, the less lost you'll be later." Dominique said as they made their way out of the great hall and up the grand staircase. They made several turns but mostly they seemed to be going up staircases. Finally, they reached a spiral staircase and climbed it. They gathered in front of a sturdy door with a bronze eagle-head knocker on it.

"Now, our common room is not protected with a password like the other houses. Instead you have to answer a riddle to get in." Mike explained. He rapped the knocker twice and the eagle's mouth opened and asked 'What gets wetter the more it dries?'

Dominique and Mike looked expectantly at the first years. The first years looked at eachother but none of them seemed to know the answer. Finally, a dark skinned girl spoke up.

"A towel?" She asked.

'Correct.' The eagle said and the door swung open.

"Very good!" Dominique congratulated the girl and everyone went inside. Once inside, they looked around at the spacious common room. There was a beautifully carved fireplace to the left with a crackling fire already lit and plenty of dark blue sofas and recliners in front of it. Several book shelves were placed around the room with books that would be useful in their studies as well as books for pleasure reading. There were tables with chairs surrounding them throughout the room. The dark blue fabric of the furniture stood out against the cream carpets and walls. The molding around the fireplace, windows, and ceiling had bronze mixed in as well. Overall, the room gave off a light and airy, yet welcoming appearance to the first years.

A woman, who was perhaps in her forties, with golden blonde hair and light green eyes waved them over to where she was in the area in front of the fireplace. She told everyone to find a seat and waited for them to be settled.

"Good evening everyone," she began, "I'm Professor Sofia Gillingham and as Head of Ravenclaw house I like to welcome the new first years personally, so welcome!" She said enthusiastically. "Now, we're just going to go over a few things that I expect of all my Ravenclaws and a few tips before you all head off to bed. As you have all seen, we have riddles that guard the entrance to our tower and usually it takes first years a couple of weeks to get the hang of them. This means that if you forget anything in the tower you have to solve the riddle to get back in to get it, so I strongly suggest you double and triple check your bags to make sure you have everything you need before classes so as to avoid any problems. 'I got stuck outside the tower without my homework' is not an acceptable excuse in any situation.

"Next, the other houses can sometimes have a poor perception of us and pick on you for being geeky or know-it-alls. Now, any professor or prefect can put an end to that if need be, but I expect all of you to help and support your fellow Ravenclaws in any situation. This is your family for the next seven years and you will all need to help and support eachother. I am proud to say that Tyler Bachman, the Head Boy, was chosen from our house. It is a great honor for us all. He and all the other prefects are here to assist you with anything you may need; don't be afraid to approach them for help."

"Lastly, I have discovered over the last decade of being Head of House that there are always a few of our first years who feel as if they were placed here by mistake because they feel they are not clever or intelligent. I want to say right now that all of you belong here and are clever and intelligent. Intelligent is more than just being able to pass tests, it can be knowing what to say and when to say it to a friend in need or show up in creativity. Clever can be stopping to think before you act, noticing what others miss, or coming up with a solution to a potentially dangerous situation." She said, giving a small smile to Al, Rose, Claira and Scorpius.

"In some way or another, all of you are intelligent and clever. I am sure that you all will discover this for yourselves as you begin your time here. Now, I believe I have kept you all up far too late. It's time for you all to head to bed. The girls dormitory is through the door on your left," She said, pointing toward the back of the room, "and the boys is to the right. Everyone go to your dormitories except I need a quick chat with Mister Potter, Mister Malfoy, Miss Weasley, and Miss Donovan." The rest of the first years made their way to the dormitories while Professor Gillingham took a seat across from the sofa the four of them had squeezed into.

"None of you are in trouble," She began reassuringly, "but I do need to know what happened out on the lake earlier. Professor Longbottom said that you were unwilling to talk about it at the time, but I need to know now."

The foursome exchanged a glance and then Claira spoke up. She gave a quick recount of what had happened earlier.

"How strange," Professor Gillingham mused, "there should be anti-tipping charms to prevent that sort of thing. Though, the boats are so old none of us really know what protections they do or don't have. However," she said, her attention snapping back to the students in front of her, "none of that really concerns any of you. I'm glad you were able to think your way out of that situation. Now, you all must be tired. Off to bed with you," she finished, waving them off toward their dormitories.

The four students bid their professor good-night and went up to their respective dormitories. They were all tired from the long day and found their beds quickly, grateful that they could sleep in since the following day was Sunday.


	6. Chapter 6: Meetings

A/N: Sorry it's been so long! School has been crazy. Unfortunately, I left my notebook with my plot and character outlines at home so it will be a couple of weeks before another update :(

Chapter 6: Meetings

Scorpius woke up a bit later than he usually did and slowly got out of bed. Al was still snoring in the next bed over and the other two boys in their dormitory appeared to be getting ready to head down to breakfast. They introduced themselves as Aaron Carter, who had brown hair and rimless glasses, and Sean O'Conner, who had light brown hair that was messy and long enough to cover his ears and had a dusting of freckles.

Scorpius decided that Al had slept enough and he should meet their dorm mates before they left. After trying all the conventional methods to get him up, Scorpius gave up and just rolled him over until he fell out of bed with a loud _thud._

"Ow! All right, I'm up!" Al said irritably while the other three boys laughed at him. He quickly introduced himself to Aaron and Sean before grabbing his things to take a quick shower. Once he was done, he and Scorpius headed down to the common room to find that Rose and Claira were waiting for them.

"Wow, you guys take forever." Claira said teasingly.

"Yeah, well, Al here apparently likes to sleep in." Scorpius said as they walked down the spiral staircase out of their tower.

"I'm actually amazed you managed to get him up, Aunt Ginny always has trouble getting him out of bed." Rose said.

"He rolled me off the bed." Al said irritably. The girls laughed as they rounded a corner and went down another set of stairs.

"Alright, who remembers which way next?" Rose asked.

"Around to the right here, I remember the painting of the dog up there." Scorpius answered. They made their way down to the entrance hall only making a couple of wrong turns.

"Not bad," Claira said as they saw the grand staircase in front of them, "I think Dominique is right, we'll have the hang of this in a couple of days here."

"To the tower and back anyway." Al added.

Al felt his heart drop a bit as he spotted his brother James leaning against the railing, clearly waiting for him. It was hard to tell that they were brothers sometimes because James was tall and lanky with dark auburn hair, brown eyes, and freckles. Al wasn't sure what James wanted, but judging by the look on his face, it probably wasn't good.

"Hey Al, look let's have a little talk for a minute over here." James said, putting his arm around Al's shoulder and leading him away. Al immediately shoved James's arm off but followed him anyway.

"Just the two of us, brother to brother." James added when he saw the other three following.

"Not a chance James." Rose said and marched over to stand next to Al. Claira and Scorpius followed, but hung back a few steps to give the family some room. They weren't sure what was going on, but didn't want to abandon Al and Rose. Claira could tell that James was up to no good and Scorpius had his hand on his wand in his book bag, just in case. His dad had taught him a shield charm and a stinging jinx in case he needed them, but gave strict instructions to use them wisely or he'd be grounded until he was sixteen.

"Fine, whatever." James said and faced Al, ignoring the other three. "Look, I don't know why you didn't make Gryffindor," James was cut off by Al.

"What do you mean 'why I didn't make Gryffindor!' You're the one who was saying I'd be in Slytherin!"

"Look, I don't care about your house right now!" James said raising his voice. "I _do_ care who you're hanging out with. Why are you letting that Malfoy scum follow you around?"

"_What is your problem_?" Al yelled.

"James, knock it off there's nothing wrong with Scorpius!" Rose added, furious.

"Yeah there is, we all know that his parents are filthy death eaters and he's just as bad!" James exclaimed.

Scorpius turned bright pink at that. "You know _nothing _about my parents, you're just a jerk who has nothing better to do than pick on his brother and his friends!" He said angrily his wand clenched in his fist.

Claira could see this was getting out of hand quickly. "Ok, there's no need to stand around listening to this jerk." She said and hooked arms with Scorpius on one side and Al on the other and started walking back towards the entrance hall.

"I don't know who you think you are, but I am _not_ done talking to my brother!" James said furiously and grabbed Al's free arm.

"Actually, you are. Now release him this instant." A stern voice said from behind them. James did as he was told and turned around, coming face to face with an angry Professor Longbottom. "You will go outside to the front steps and wait for me there. If you are not there when I go to find you, you will earn yourself a month's worth of detentions and a letter home. Am I clear?" He said to James.

"Yes sir" James muttered angrily and stormed off.

Professor Longbottom waited until he was long out of earshot before facing the four first years.

"Mister Malfoy," he began sternly but not angry anymore, "It is never alright to draw your wand on another student, even if no spells were cast. I'm going to have to take five points from Ravenclaw."

"But, sir, James" Rose began.

"Likely said something cruel and untrue and I will deal with him, but Mister Malfoy, and all of you for that matter, are responsible for your own actions and reactions."

"Yes sir." They all responded. Scorpius was mentally kicking himself, his father had warned him there would be people like James and that he shouldn't be baited to do something stupid.

"On that note, I also award ten points to Miss Donovan for keeping a cool head and trying to end the fight by walking away." Professor Longbottom said. The four of them smiled at this.

"Now, I'm going to go have a nice long chat with James, which will include instructions to stay away from you four until he has only very, _very_ nice things to say. Now, you four need to enforce that by not letting him, or Fred for that matter, pull you off either by yourselves or into an empty corridor like this for another chat. Understood?"

"Yes sir." They all said.

"Good, go get some breakfast and try to enjoy the rest of the day." Professor Longbottom said, dismissing them and walking out, presumably to talk with James.

"Sorry about my brother guys, he's a stupid prat." Al said as they made their way into the great hall and sat down at the Ravenclaw table.

"You don't need to apologize for your brother." Scorpius said wearily.

"If he wants to be a jerk, that's his problem, not yours." Claira added.

Dominique walked over and sat down next to them when she saw them. "Good morning," she greeted them. "Look, I'm not gonna be the older cousin who follows you around everywhere and needs to know everything that happens, but Rose looks like she's going to kill someone and the rest of you look like you're going to help her hide the body so…what happened?"

"James is being stupid." Al said wearily.

"James spends most of his time being stupid, be more specific." Dominique replied.

Rose quickly gave a recount of their encounter with James. Retelling what happened seemed to help her let off some steam and she looked less murderous at the end. Dominique, on the other hand, seemed to get the opposite effect from Rose's retelling of events.

"I'm gonna kill him." She said, swinging her leg over the bench to stand up.

"No, wait," Scorpius stopped her. "Sit down, Professor Longbottom is already taking care of him. Look, if you're going to kill James, at least don't make it over me. My father warned me that there would be people like James who think I'm a …a dark lord in training or something." Everyone snorted at that. Though Scorpius was tall for his age, he was no where near big or intimidating. "The point is, I can't run to a teacher or prefect every time one of them says something stupid. My dad said: 'the only thing you can do is defend yourself when necessary, walk away the rest of the time, and always keep your head down and work hard. Hard work will either make them respect you or they will get bored and find something better to do.' Having you go yell at James too won't change anything." Scorpius finished.

Dominique took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Alright, fine, your dad is probably right. How 'bout this: any incident I happen to walk in on, I can take care of how I see fit and anything that involves injuries or dangerous spells you have to come tell me. Everything else, you handle as you see fit. Deal?"

"Deal" Scorpius said and shook her hand.

"When it comes to James, just ignore him. Fred and their friend Kevin will probably follow James's lead so ignore them as well. James, he… well, he sees everything in black and white. Gryffindors are good, Slytherins are bad. And people are supposed to act the way he expects them to."

"We're supposed to be in Gryffindor and Scorpius is supposed to be the evil Slytherin." Rose finished for her.

"Exactly," Dominique said. "When something or someone doesn't fit the mold in his head, he doesn't know what to do so he takes out his frustration on the people not doing what he thinks they should be doing."

"Which would be us." Claira said. "Professor Longbottom told us to stay away from them."

"Good, follow that instruction." Dominique said. "I'll see you guys later, _try_ to stay out of trouble." She said, waving good-bye to them. On her way out, she caught Victoire's eye. Even from two tables over, Victoire could tell that something had happened and had been watching them. Dominique inclined her head ever so slightly as she exited the great hall. Victoire casually got up and followed her out.

Dominique walked to a courtyard not far from the great hall and sat down on a stone bench that was far enough from the main corridor to give them privacy. A moment later Victoire rounded the corner and joined her sister on the bench. There was silence for a few moments while Dominique tried to figure out where to start.

"Your job _sucks_." Dominique finally said because it was the only explanation she could come up with. "I didn't want to be a prefect and I never expected any of our cousins to be in my house. I mean you're the oldest, you're supposed to be watching out for all the younger cousins not me!"

Victoire chuckled at that, mostly because it was true. She was the oldest and had always been unofficially in charge of her younger cousins. Since all the cousins until now, except Dominique, had been in Gryffindor with her, they were always her responsibility.

"I think it's a fair split," Victoire said, "I get the two trouble makers and you get the two trouble magnets. I can't believe Al and Rose ended up in the lake last night!" She added the last part with exasperation.

"Yeah, me neither. I've heard about that, helped Al with an identity crisis, helped reassure Scorpius Malfoy, and I need to have you kill James for me and it's only the first morning of the year." Dominique finished exasperated as well.

"Ok, slow down. What did James do and I was going to ask about Scorpius Malfoy at some point here anyway."

"Well, you know James, he decided to confront Al for not being in Gryffindor but mostly for making friends with Scorpius and there was an argument in one of the hallways. Professor Longbottom broke it up and dealt with James, but I don't think that will be enough to deter him in the future. Look, we all knew James was going to badger Al no matter what and Al is used to it and will learn how to deal with it fairly quickly, but it's Scorpius I'm worried about. James isn't going after him due to sibling rivalry, he's doing it to bully him based on stupid prejudices." Dominique finished.

Victoire rubbed her sister's back for comfort. "You're right, James probably needs to be kept from bullying Scorpius. I have to ask though, you're sure its completely unfounded? Scorpius is a good kid?"

"Yes, I'm sure!"

"Sorry, I don't mean to be judgmental," Victoire said quickly, "its just hard to believe he turned out so different than his parents, but I trust your judgment. If you say he's alright, then he is."

"To be honest, I was a little surprised too, but it turns out he was actually miserable during the train ride yesterday because the other kids wouldn't give him a chance. He seems genuine in his interactions with Al and Rose and today he mentioned a few things his father taught him about hard work and staying out of trouble. As hard as it is to believe, it seems like he was raised right and will be a good friend to Al and Rose. We just have to keep James from doing anything else stupid." Dominique said.

"Agreed."

"We have to be discrete though, I kind of promised Scorpius that I would stay out of it unless it was serious. He doesn't want to be a tattle tale." Dominique added.

"Which is a good point, being a tattle won't help anything, but we need to prevent any more problems with James because James will continue to bully Scorpius and justify it by saying he's defending his brother. That could escalate quickly." Victoire mused, tapping her lips with her finger thoughtfully.

"Professor Longbottom did give James strict instructions to stay away from Al and his friends, but James doesn't need to be seen anywhere near Scorpius to continue to bully him." Dominique added.

"True. And he'll perceive anything coming from us as punishment and ignore it. I think our best option is to enlist Louis's help." Victoire said. Louis was known for being the neutral one, never taking sides during sibling or cousin fights or rivalries. However, Victoire was fairly sure he could be talked into helping them due to the seriousness of the matter. Louis was level headed and fair and would understand where their concern was coming from.

"Alright, but what can he do?"

"Well, he might be able to redirect James. James will try to get a rise out of the family about Al's friendship with Scorpius, so we all have to not take the bait. Louis might be able to redirect his attention to 'welcoming' the new first years instead of bullying Scorpius with a well-placed comment." Victoire said.

"Are you sure you want to go with that plan?" Dominique asked. "That sounds like it will create a whole lot of trouble for you."

"Are you kidding? James has been planning his pranks on the first years all summer and I've been preparing all summer. Hopefully he'll be too busy carrying out his pranks and the detentions that follow that he'll calm down about Scorpius."

"Alright sounds like a plan. How about you talk to Louis quietly and I'll write to the family about Al's friendship with Scorpius so James doesn't get to them first. The only person I'm really worried about is Uncle Ron, but if Aunt Hermione has some warning she can talk some sense into him before he can join up with James." Dominique said.

"Sounds like a plan." Victoire said and gave her sister a quick hug. "Take care of yourself and try not to worry, we'll keep James under control one way or another."


End file.
